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58% Of Workers ‘Don’t Know Basic Health & Safety Rules’

23rd January 2017

Some people believe their workplaces have no health and safety rules at all!

It might be worth carrying out a training day for your members of staff to find out whether they’re familiar with the health and safety rules and regulations of your workplace, as new research has revealed that 58 per cent of employees don’t know the basics of their place of business.

Conducted by safety barrier manufacturer A-SAFE, the study questioned 1,000 people in sectors like logistics, food and drink, construction, manufacturing and transport, and found that 60 per cent of respondents don’t adhere fully to their organisation’s health and safety practices. And perhaps alarmingly, 33 per cent don’t believe their workplace has any such rules at all, SHP Online reports.

Interestingly, retail and distribution workers were found to have the best knowledge of what businesses must provide them in order to protect them while at work.

“Health and safety is a huge priority for any business, regardless of size. Small hazards which are ignored can easily become a major incident resulting in injury, death and significant damage to a business’s reputation and finances,” co-owner of A-SAFE James Smith commented.

Given previous research from the TUC revealing that 46 per cent of workplaces have never been visited by health and safety officials, it would seem that it’s increasingly becoming the responsibility of businesses to ensure that workers do adhere to their own strict guidelines for health and safety.

It’s not enough to have emergency response planning procedures in place – you’ve also got to make sure that these are followed to the letter and that every member of the team on site knows what their individual responsibilities are. If you need help in this regard, get in touch with us today.